


the boys time can't capture

by chvystiel



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes' 100th birthday, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Therapy Dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-03 15:49:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10250672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chvystiel/pseuds/chvystiel
Summary: a story about bucky barnes, steve rogers, and a pup named hercules.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is one part of my gift to @buckywantsplums for the Beefy Bucky Birthday Swap! :)

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” Steve rubs Bucky’s shoulder as the man groans. “Big day today, birthday boy, c’mon.” Steve chuckles when Bucky makes another noise of grumpy defiance before sighing and sitting up in his bed, the sheets pooling around his bare waist.

“Aren’t I allowed to sleep in on my birthday?” Bucky says, blinking at the bright sunlight peeking through the curtains.

“Nope,” replies Steve, grinning. “I have something special planned for you, Buck. Now get up and meet me in the kitchen when you’re decent.”

Bucky shakes his head. “Surprises? Oh boy,” he says sarcastically.

“I’ll be waiting,” says Steve before closing the bedroom door behind him.

Damned Steve Rogers. He’s probably been up for hours already; gone for his morning jog even with the wintery chill in the air, and now he’s got Bucky’s whole birthday planned out like some big goof. God, Bucky’s so in love with him.

He climbs out of bed and involuntarily shivers at the tinge of coolness that mornings have. He finds a pair of black sweatpants in the closet and tugs them up over his hips. As soon as he opens the bedroom door, he’s hit with the distinct smell of bacon, eggs, and a wide selection of other breakfast foods. Bucky yawns and plops down opposite Steve at the kitchen table. Before him are plates upon plates of food; among the bacon and eggs, there's fresh fruit atop the fluffiest pancakes Bucky’s ever laid eyes on, three different styles of hashbrowns, and a steaming cup of coffee. With absolutely zero hesitation, he begins to pile heaping amounts of food onto his plate.

“When did you make all this?” Bucky asks Steve around a mouthful of syrupy pancake.

Steve glances up from the Stark tablet he’s reading. “I had a little help…”

“Who?”

Steve shrugs, “Sam.”

“Wilson helped you make breakfast. For me.”

“I know, it surprised me too. He promised he was only doing it for me, but I think since it’s your birthday and all, he wanted to do something special,” says Steve with a small smile as he sips his coffee.

Bucky chuckles, “Hmph, he just wants something in his back pocket for whenever he needs a favour. Now I’ll owe him one.”

Steve laughs a little and shakes his head, “Knock it off, Buck… you’re probably right though.”

***

After a nice, warm shower and some fresh clothes, Steve takes Bucky down to the Avengers Tower’s garage.

“Where are you boys going?” comes Nat’s voice as Steve and Bucky step out of the elevator. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she’s leaning against the driver’s side of a black Jaguar.

“Birthday,” Steve replies, jutting his thumb over his shoulder at Bucky who shrugs.

Nat nods. “Aren’t you like four hundred now?” she asks Bucky.

“Har har,” says Bucky. “I’m still at the ripe ol’ age of one hundred, thanks.”

Nat laughs and drops her head, her red curtain of hair swinging past her cheekbones. “Happy 100th, Barnes.”

Bucky grins back, “Thank you.”

Steve is waiting in the driver's seat of silver Corvette Stingray and Bucky slides into the passenger seat beside him. As the doors to the garage open for them, Bucky rolls down his window and calls out in Nat’s direction, “Be careful, Stark will kill you if you scratch that thing.” Nat’s laugh is cut off as the door’s close behind them.

“I thought you hated these kinds of cars,” Bucky says to Steve, eyebrows quirked. “Too flashy for you or something like that.”

Steve grins, “If I’m taking you out, I figure I gotta treat you right.” He reaches his hand across the centre console and Bucky interlaces their fingers.

***

Half an hour later, Steve pulls off to the side of the road and parks the car. Bucky follows him across the street and into a grey, stone building, missing the name of it as he tugs his blue baseball cap down. Just inside the door, a young woman with a perky blonde ponytail sits at a desk. The bell above the door catches her attention and she glances up at the two of them.

“Hello, welcome to Manhattan’s Adoption Centre. What can I help you gentlemen with today?” she asks.

“Hi miss, we’d like to take a look at the dogs you have,” replies Steve. Yeah, Bucky’s totally confused now.

“Wonderful! We have lots of adorable pups looking for a home and adoption is always a perfect choice for finding that new family member. If you’ll just follow me, please,” says the woman. She stands and leads them down a short hallway and through a door. The hallway behind the door is lined with cages. “The holidays really cleared us out, which makes me so happy I can’t even put it into words, but we still have a few pooches left.”

Bucky’s eyes are wide as he tries to piece together the puzzle and Steve hides a smile when he sees Bucky’s expression. “Can we look around?”

“Of course, just let me know if you have any questions or if you’d like to take a dog on a walk to get to know them a little better. My name is Penny, by the way,” says the woman.

“Thank you, Penny,” says Steve. She smiles sweetly and closes the door behind her.

“Steve--” Bucky starts.

“I know, I know, I should’ve said something. But I did some reading on the Internet about these dogs that help people with mental illness. They’re called therapy dogs and they have vests and… I thought I would surprise you with getting one,” Steve finishes, a hesitant look in his eyes. Bucky’s face is fixed in disbelief and Steve’s brow furrows. “I screwed up, didn’t I?”

Bucky’s face falls into a smile and then he’s laughing. “Stevie,” he steps closer to the blonde. “I love you so much.” He kisses Steve softly then takes the man's hand in his own. “This is amazing, you're amazing. Thank you.”

Steve breathes a sigh of relief. “Let’s look around, yeah?” Bucky nods.

The first dogs they meet are two incredibly excited Dachshund puppies, clearly siblings from their matching coats. Steve and Bucky share a knowing look; those dogs deserve a family with little kids who can entertain them, they just wouldn’t quite fit. The fluffy white poodle a few cages down isn’t exactly what Bucky would call his dream dog either. She’s adorable and very friendly, but he’s positive that he and Steve would never hear the end of it bringing her home.

In the very last cage on Bucky’s right is the last dog in the shelter. The chestnut coloured pit bull is lying against the back wall of its little home partially curled up in a brown blanket. Bucky’s shoe scuffs the concrete floor and the dog turns its head towards the sound. It quirks its head when Bucky waves at it, then gets to its feet and slowly approaches him as Bucky crouches down.

Steve watches the pit bull lick cautiously at Bucky’s fingers before slipping back down the hallway and out the door to find Penny. Bucky hardly notices Steve leave; this dog has him completely entranced. He lets the dog sniff his fingers some more as he reaches up to grasp the clipboard attached to the cage between his metal fingers. The picture printed on the information sheet is downright heart melting. The dog is lying on the floor of his cage, cuddled up in his blanket, asleep. The name above the picture reads ‘Hercules’ in funky block letters.

“Nice to meet you, Hercules,” mutters Bucky. The dog barks in response and jumps up on the cage before dropping back down onto all fours. “I’m probably not supposed to do this but…” Bucky unhooks the lock with his metal fingers and slides it to the side, opening the cage. Hercules steps out of the cage and immediately plops himself in Bucky’s lap, rolling over to expose his white belly. “Tummy scratches? Is that what you want, pal?” Hercules opens his mouth, his tongue lolling out as he pants happily. Bucky obliges and scratches the dog’s belly until he hears the door to the hall click shut.

Bucky jerks his head up to find Penny and Steve watching him and Hercules. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have opened the cage I wasn’t thinking.” He grimaces and looks down at the happy dog in his lap.

“Don’t you worry about it for one second,” says Penny. “Obviously this was a match made in heaven. Your boyfriend came and asked me for the paperwork as soon as you two laid eyes on each other, or so he tells me.” She giggles and looks up at Steve.

“Like Penny said, match made in heaven,” says Steve. Bucky rolls his eyes but his heart feels like it’s going to explode with happiness whenever he looks down at Hercules still panting in his lap. There's no way he'd be able to spend another day without the dog.

After signing all the required paperwork and collecting all the sticky notes about Hercules that Penny had saved, the three musketeers leave the adoption centre. Hercules hops up onto the back seat of the car and plops himself down on the leather seats as he’d done on Bucky’s lap.

“Tony must never know that that dog was inside this car,” Steve says in mock seriousness.

Bucky chuckles, “Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Have I ever told you that I love you?”

“Once or twice, I can’t really remember,” Steve grins.

“Well,” Bucky kisses him. “I do.”

***

The sky outside had turned a soft blue now, streaked with deep violet near the horizon. Bucky lays on the couch, his eyes fixed on the movie playing on the television. The warm body of Hercules is pressed up against Bucky’s right side as the puppy dozes peacefully. Steve sits in the chair near Bucky’s feet, sketching the scene before him. Bucky’s hair is tied neatly up in a bun and in the evening light, his scruff looks thicker than it really is. Steve sighs contently and Bucky flicks his eyes to meet Steve’s, his eyebrows raised. Steve just smiles and glances at Hercules who is still sleeping, perfectly happy as Bucky continues scratching behind his ear.

“Happy 100th Birthday, Buck,” whispers Steve.

“Love you, Stevie,” replies Bucky.


End file.
